


Not Your Soulmate

by LadyAnatares



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Don’t copy to another site, F/M, Feral Behavior, I write my reader inserts kinda dom okay, Love at First Sight, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Not Like That, Paps is a bottom, Papyrus and Mettaton are bonded, Reader is determined, Reader is pissy and not all for this, Reader-Insert, Sans Has a Bad Time, Unrequited Love, and she'll make a point that she's not happy about it every time, but she's kinda stuck because Sans is a big needy baby, consent kinda gets shoved aside from time to time, more like she gets grabbed and moved around without her explicit say so at times, reader gets injured, reader is female
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 23:11:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 19,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18456551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyAnatares/pseuds/LadyAnatares
Summary: Gifted toSonamyluffer101for inspiring this nonsense with her worksm i n eandDesirehere on AO3 :)Reader was minding her own business picking out cheese when a big, growly skeleton creeped up on her and kidnapped her out of the blue. His excuse? She's his soulmate!... Yeah, she's not terribly thrilled by this turn of events.Sweetheart UF!Sans because I dig UF!Sans in particular lately, and I miss writing him honestly D:Trust me I want NYD!UF edition to happen just as much as you do.Updates whenever they feel like spilling out of my brain lol. Just look at my other works andyoutellmewhen you think it's gunna happen XD





	1. Weaponized cheese.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sonamyluffer101](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sonamyluffer101/gifts).



You were grocery shopping.

You were deciding between the crappy cheese on sale and your more expensive fave when you heard creepy breathing _right behind you_.

Spinning around and backing up a step, you stare straight ahead and see a broad chest. Then you looked up.

Two red slivers of light in black sockets were narrowed at you, throwing gentle red light against the jutting ivory white nasal ridge, over a wide open mouth of sharp teeth gaping at you.

“ **holy shit it’s _y o u_.**”

It’s a skeleton monster. Getting in your personal space, breathing down your neck, staring down at you like a hungry predator who’s just found his next meal.

Yeah, you don’t like this one bit.

“GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME WHAT THE _HELL!!_ ”

You throw the blocks of cheese in your hands at him, them flopping against his massive chest uselessly and falling to the floor at his feet. His gaze never shifts, not to the cheese on the floor nor to any of the people staring at you now, and he doesn’t even seem to startle when you scream at him.

You’re frozen in place, not totally sold on running away (you still need the rest of your groceries damnit), but, not totally sure you want this to escalate to a fight, either.

Before you can come up with a next move, he lunges forward faster than you can react and you feel hard, heavy hands grab you.

You _scream_.

And you’re somewhere else.

“ **holy fuck i didn’t even think you _existed_.**”

The giant skeleton monster has wrapped himself around you, still breathing through his teeth as he presses your body more firmly into his own. His hands smooth against your back over your clothes and tangle into your hair, and he babbles quietly against your skin as he peppers your forehead and hair with tiny affectionate kisses.

You scream again, bringing your hands up and pushing him away from you.

It actually _works_ , but you know in the back of your mind that he let you. He stumbles back, looking very confused and… Hurt?

Your eyes dart around the room, absently noting the clothes scattered all over the floor and bed and the burnt orange paint peeling off the walls in places, until you spot the door behind you. You run to it and throw it open, spotting a railing over the lower floor and what you presume to be the front door. Not even sparing a second to see the stairs just off to the right, you grab the railing with both hands and vault over it.

The skeleton gasps and you hear heavy footsteps behind you. “ **wait-** **sweet-!** ”

You land badly on your ankle and squeak out in pain. You’ve probably twisted it. Damnit, that’s going to slow you down, but you’ve _got_ to _keep moving_.

You’ve barely had time to process anything by this point, but your fight or flight instincts are turned the _hell_ up.

Hands grab at you again and you put your fists up and start swinging. You catch him on the side of his face as you stumble away from him, still just trying to get back on your feet.

“ **sweetheart- _listen_ , jus’ _calm down_ and let me expl-**“

That one earned him a kick to the teeth. With your bad leg. _Ow_.

You get on your feet _finally_ and charge for the door.               

He’s right behind you as you grasp the doorknob and turn it to open.

There’s a weird resistance to it, but it swings open quickly and you nearly fall on yourself as it opens inward.

Another skeleton is standing right there, the doorknob gripped in his red gloved hand and a plastic bag of groceries in his other. He’s much taller than the other one, and he has a confused scowl etched across his sharply edged face as he regards the skeleton behind you.

… You’re boxed in by skeletons.

“Don’t have fucking _time_ for this-“

“ **b-boss! don’t let her leave-!** ”

You try to push past him but he grips your shoulder and holds you in place. You are so past done by this point.

“LET _GO_ OF ME I _SWEAR_ TO-“

“ **SANS WHAT THE _FUCK_ IS GOING ON HERE??**” the new skeleton bellows over your head. “ **WHY IS THIS _HUMAN_ IN OUR HOUSE? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE??**”

He says ‘human’ like it leaves a bad taste in his mouth. You didn’t really have an opinion on monsters yourself, but after how today’s turned out? _Really_ can’t say you’re a fan.

The other skeleton looks sheepish at the two of you as you’re turned in place by the much stronger monster who’s got you in his firm grip. He shuffles his feet uncertainly as he slides his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

“ **she’s, uh… she’s my soulmate, boss.** ”

Your head turns as the bag of groceries gets dropped to the floor. The taller skeleton facepalms way over your head with his now freed hand.

“ **SANS, YOU COMPLETE AND UTTER _FUCKWIT_. HUMAN, WE NEED TO TALK. YOU DESERVE AN EXPLANATION.**”


	2. Soulmates my ass.

You fought him the whole way over to the couch.

“LET ME GO!” you yell up at him defiantly. He’d grabbed the front of your shirt and practically dragged you over to the couch. You’re dropped unceremoniously on it’s hard and beaten up cushions and your attempts to get up or swing at him are interrupted when he easily catches your wrists.

“ **HUMAN, IF YOU DO NOT _STOP_ WITH THIS UNCOOPERATIVE BEHAVIOUR THIS SITUATION WILL BE MADE EVEN _WORSE_ FOR YOU,**” he bellows threateningly.

“HOW could this be any WORSE!?”

“ **BECAUSE MY BROTHER WILL BE FORCED TO ATTACK ME TO PROTECT YOU, AND YOU MAY BECOME MORE GREVIOUSLY INJURED IN THE ENSUING CONFLICT BEYOND OUR CAPABILITIES TO HEAL.** ”

 _That_ gets your attention. Why would he do that? You don’t even know what’s going on to begin with, and he _did_ say he wanted to explain.

“ ** _yeaahh_ , a-actually if you could stop grabbing her that’d be _super_ ,**” your kidnapper growls, running his hands over his face. He’s breathing heavily again, hands twitching absently. Is he trying to restrain himself?

You open your hands to show you mean no harm, and he lets go of your wrists. He then grabs your injured ankle and you wince in pain as he takes your shoe off to see the damage.

“ **SANS, WILL YOU ALLOW ME TO HEAL THE SPRAIN?** ” he says, his voice more even and measured than before.

“ **uh… yeah, i think i can manage. can i… _should_ i sit next to her first?**”

The edgier skeleton looks at you carefully, and you shrink away in the couch from his calculating gaze.

“ **THAT MIGHT BE BEST, IF THE HUMAN ALLOWS FOR IT.** ”

The skeleton named Sans sighs deeply, as if a massive weight has just been lifted from his shoulders, before coming over to the couch to sit immediately next to you.

“Not that close,” you warn.

He looks a bit hurt and confused again, but he obediently shuffles over to the far end instead. He leaves his hand on the open seat between you, as if trying to keep some part of him as close to you as possible.

The ‘Boss’ skeleton takes off one of his gloves, then presses his bony phalanges against your injured ankle, and the sprain starts to burn like it’s on fire, but then the feeling subsides quickly into a prickly warmth that seems to find the spots that hurt and warms them instead. Sans, on the couch near you, grits his teeth and digs his phalanges into the surface of the cushion, the fabric shredding like tissue paper in his claws.

… These guys are _dangerous_.

“ **I AM NOT ACCUSTOMED TO HEALING HUMANS,** ” the boss says. Not an apology, just a statement of fact.

“Why even heal me in the first place?” you ask, anger fading and replaced with bitterness over being kidnapped, but also out of genuine curiosity.

“ **BECAUSE YOU ARE MY BROTHER’S SOULMATE, AND IT IS MY DUTY TO PROTECT MY FAMILY AND THEIR INTERESTS,** ” he sighs, rolling his eyes as if this should be obvious.

“I didn’t sign up for this – to be his ‘soulmate’ or whatever – he just fucking _creeped_ on me in a grocery store and then _kidnapped_ me to wherever the _hell this_ place is,” you snap back.

“ **you don’t really have a choice,** ” Sans informs you, tracing his sharp phalanges against an undamaged part of the cushion.

“I’LL say whether or not I have a choice-!”

After Boss lets go of your ankle you move to stand up, but he grabs you roughly by the hair and your shoulder, sitting you back down.

“ ** _geez_ , pap, go easy-!**”

“ **MY BROTHER WAS BEING QUITE _LITERAL_ JUST THEN,**” he says absently, pulling at the collar of your shirt and looking at your bare neck. He then lets go of you and does the same for the other side. “ **WE CANNOT CHOOSE OUR SOULMATES, WE ONLY KNOW THEM WHEN WE SEE THEM FOR THE FIRST TIME, AND INSTINCT TAKES OVER.** ”

“ **i didn’t _mark her yet_ if that’s what you’re tryin’ to figure-**“

“ **UNFORTUNATELY, MONSTERS WITH HUMAN SOULMATES ARE EXCEEDINGLY RARE,** ” he continues talking, checking the back of your neck as well. “ **THERE HAVE ONLY BEEN TWO OTHER OCCURENCES OF MIXED SOULMATES SINCE WE SURFACED, AND IN _BOTH_ INSTANCES THE MONSTER WAS _DUSTED_ FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER.**”

You yelp as Boss tries to lift up your shirt, continuing his random invasive inspection of your person, but his arm is violently ripped away by a suddenly standing Sans. His eye sockets have gone black and his teeth are grit and on full display.

“ ** _p a p .  t h a t ‘ s   e n o u g h ._** ”

The taller skeleton withdraws his hands, and then Sans sits down immediately next to you, regardless of your earlier protest. That seems to calm him down though, just having you pressed against to his side, as he goes from stiff to relaxed in an instant, leaning his head back into the cushions and even half-closing his eyes.

Boss observes the two of you for a moment, before pinching the bridge over his nasal passage and sighs. “ **MY BROTHER IS IN A VERY VULNERABLE POSITION, HAVING A HUMAN FOR HIS SOULMATE, SO I HOPE THAT YOU CAN FIND SOME WAY TO TOLERATE HIM AND HIS NEED FOR KEEPING HIS SUBMISSIVE CLOSE BY, AT LEAST UNTIL HE CAN BETTER CONTROL HIS INSTINCTS.** ”

“Buddy, I haven’t been submissive a day in my entire fucking _life_ ,” you snap back.

Instead of anything you might have been expecting from the tall, rather prickly skeleton, he blows air through his nasal passage in an amused snort.

“ **I SAID THE SAME THING TO MY SOULMATE ONCE. YOU’LL FIGURE IT OUT,** ” he reassures you, but you don’t feel reassured in the slightest. “ **FOR NOW THOUGH, IT WOULD BE IN EVERYONE’S BEST INTERESTS AND SAFETY THAT YOU STAY HERE FOR THE TIME BEING. THE ABSOLUTE _LAST_ THING SNOWDIN NEEDS IS A BELLIGERENT HUMAN AND A FERAL BOSS MONSTER ROAMING ABOUT.**”

On that note, he heads back over to the front door to collect his groceries, then disappears through an archway in the wall the couch is sitting against. Is that a kitchen through there, then?

The skeleton next to you offers his massive bony hand in greeting.

“ **hey, the name’s sans. sorry ‘bout, uh, all of this,** ” he tries lamely.

You roll your eyes and scoff. “Don’t pretend like you actually _care_.”

He looks insulted and hurt. “ **of _course_ i care. you’re my soulmate.**”

“If you _cared_ you wouldn’t have _abducted_ me and brought me here in the _first_ place,” you sass back. “If you _cared_ you wouldn’t have tried to _rub yourself all over me_ without my _consent_. If you _cared_ you would have stayed at _that_ end of the fucking _couch_.”

“ **having you near me keeps me calm,** ” he rumbles, halfway to growling. Then he looks sheepish again, withdrawing his hand to run it over his face. “ **can’t you at least tell me your name?** ”

“ _Oh_ , you abduct me and molest me _first_ and NOW you want my _name?_ ”

“ **IS THIS WHAT MY LIFE IS GOING TO BE LIKE FROM NOW ON?** ”

The tall skeleton has reappeared from the kitchen to scowl at the both of you.

“ **LISTENING TO YOU TWO BICKER AND FIGHT ALL THE TIME? I’LL DUST _MYSELF_ IF I HAVE TO HEAR THIS EVERY SINGLE DAY,**” he bemoans.

“ **go see your bonded if it bothers you so much,** ” Sans groans.

“ **I _WOULD_ , BUT I AM NOT COMFORTABLE WITH LEAVING THE PAIR OF YOU ALONE AT THIS EARLY STAGE, SO I ALREADY CONTACTED MY BONDED AND ASKED HIM TO COME HERE TONIGHT INSTEAD.**”

Sans leaps to his feet and takes a couple challenging steps towards Boss. “ ** _bro, seriously_ , you _can’t_ bring him over here tonight. another _dominant_ in the house is gunna be a _bad time_.**”

“ **HE WILL REMAIN IN MY ROOM FOR THE DURATION OF HIS VISIT,** ” Boss counters.

“ **he hates my guts.** ”

“ **HE… _TOLERATES_ YOU.**”

“ **if he lays _one finger_ on my soulmate to mess with me i’m gunna _lose_ it.**”

“ **AND I AM NOT LEAVING TONIGHT _SPECIFICALLY_ TO PREVENT THAT FROM HAPPENING.**”

“ **can’t you see him another night?** ”

“ **I HAVE A NEED TO SEE MY BONDED, JUST AS YOU DO WITH YOUR SOULMATE.** ”

Sans looks like he wants to claw out his eyes from his sockets. “ **uurghhgh. the walls are _paper thin_ , pap. i can’t deal with that tonight.**”

“ **THEN STAY ON THE COUCH. IT’S PROBABLY BETTER FOR HER TO BE OUT HERE THAN IN YOUR ROOM ANYWAYS.** ”

“ **… _fine_.**”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like she's stuck here for a while...


	3. Stop doing backflips!

“ **you really don’t feel anything, huh?** ”

“I’m not indulging your insanity.”

“ **can i at least hold your hand?** ”

“ _No._ ”

You’re not even sure why you’re putting up with this as much as you already have. Papyrus (when he came out to ask what you wanted for dinner, he’d finally introduced himself) had promised you a hot meal and a couch to sleep on tonight, which isn’t much different from what you’d be getting at your aunt’s place anyways, except now you don’t have to cook.

And, if you’re being _completely_ honest with yourself?

There was a teeny, _tiny_ part of you, in the back of your brain, that jumped up and suddenly did a backflip when Sans first grabbed you and started petting you. It was missed in the haze of surprise and fury at being ripped away from your shopping trip and nearby neighbourhood, but it was like it said ‘ _yes_ , this is perfect, this is _right_ ’, and you were completely blindsided as to how or why.

 _Small_ part. _Really_ small part.

And that might just be because it’s been a while since you’ve dated anyways. Men are terrible. They always treat you like you’re _supposed_ to be passive and obedient because you’re a woman, and then pissy and _awful_ when they find out you’re not like it’s _your_ fault their stupid macho power trip isn’t working. So when Papyrus called you submissive an hour ago, it _stung_. It felt like he thought the same thing of you, and you weren’t having it for one single _second_.

You jerk in surprise as Sans tucks some of your hair behind your ear, him looking like it was the most natural thing he could be doing right now. “ **sorry, i just… wanted to see your face better,** ” he mutters warmly.

…

Okay, that was _vaguely_ cute, and it might have even been nice without all the other context of the situation right now. You’re _still_ captive here, and he’s _still insane_.

And that tiny idiot in your brain just did another backflip.

There’s a knock on the door, and Papyrus practically runs out of the kitchen to get it. Sans grips your hand in his suddenly, but when you try to pull away his grip gets much stronger. Not breaking you, just holding you fast and keeping you right where you are.

“ ** _listen,_** ” he leans in to speak softly to you. “ **i _know_ i’m not your favourite person right now but _just let me have this_ , alright? i don’t _wanna_ go crazy, and i _definitely_ don’t want to fight my bro’s _dominant_. just stay here, stay close to me, and everything will be _fine_ , alright?**”

His hand is hot, sweaty, and shaking, ever so slightly. Is he afraid?

Of himself and what he might do, or of his brother’s ‘dominant’?”

“… _Fine_ ,” you groan. You can play along for now if it will keep the bullshit from escalating.

“ ** _thank you._** ”

At the door, Papyrus has opened it and is standing in front of the open door in the entryway, looking lovingly out at the newcomer. Four thick metal wires burst forward and wrap him up bodily, and he makes no move to resist them as he’s pulled out of sight. Sans snorts and you look up just in time to see him roll his eyelights.

He notices you looking at him and he makes eye contact, smiling slightly and his cheekbones reddening.

You look away and sigh.

Papyrus stumbles back into the house, still entangled in metal, grinning from ear hole to ear hole. Attached to him is a robot monster you think you might’ve seen on the Internet once or twice, with a familiar broad chest with metal panels and gadgets, four flexible long metal arms that begin to retract back into his body, a head of straight black wires that move vaguely like hair, and four red and yellow eyes that begin to drink you in.

“My, _my_ , Sans, you lucky monster,” he coos in your direction.

He offers a hand to you in greeting, except he makes no move to cross the room, so it just extends across the livingroom area to be within reach of you.

Sans snarls and slaps it out of the way before you can even _think_ of taking it.

“Pet, your brother is being awfully _rude_ to me again,” he hums derisively at Papyrus next to him.

Papyrus takes one of his hands in his. “ **METTATON, I TOLD YOU- HE’S ONLY JUST FOUND HER, IT’S NOT A GOOD TIME-** “

The metal monster tsks as he takes the pointed chin of his skeleton boyfriend in a hand, almost as if he’s scolding a child. “Who outranks you, ‘Captain’?”

“ **YOU DO.** ”

“That’s better,” he purrs. He then puts a hand to his chest and bows slightly in greeting. “My name is Mettaton, and Papyrus here is my darling bonded,” he introduces himself. “And, you are…?”

“_____,” you answer.

Sans stiffens next to you. “ **oh so you’ll tell _him_ your name but not me?**”

“He didn’t _kidnap_ me!” you snap.

Mettaton tsks again, getting your attention. “You must be having such an awfully _confusing_ day, haven’t you, dear? I am so sorry for Sans’ _brutish_ nature, how unfortunate that you might be _his_ soulmate and not someone more… _Tactful._ ”

“ **i’ll _show_ _you_ brutish you walking _trash pile_ -**“

“ **SANS- BONDED, _PLEASE_. LET US EAT DINNER SO WE CAN GO OUR SEPARATE WAYS FOR THE NIGHT,**” Papyrus interjects.

“Very well, then,” Mettaton agrees.

With that, he leads a willing Papyrus by the chin into the kitchen, Sans pulling you behind him as he stands.

“Agh- _SANS!_ ” you jerk your arm away from him, but his grip is too strong. “You can’t just _drag_ _me_ to the _kitchen_ for fuck’s sake-“

“ **i don’t want to let you go,** ” he mumbles so softly you just barely catch it. Then his voice gets lower, almost like he’s _growling_. “ **especially not with _him_ lurking around.**”

He feels threatened by this new monster, and you’re his… _Security blanket_ , or whatever. You throw your head back and groan.

“I can walk _myself_ to the damn kitchen,” you say, yanking your hand free at last. “Let’s just get this dinner over with.”


	4. Buy a longer table FFS.

There was a problem when you got to the kitchen. Namely, the seating arrangements.

There were four chairs on all sides of a small, square card table. And no matter where you sat, you’d be either directly across from Mettaton, or right next to him.

Mettaton of _course_ used this to dig at Sans for a bit.

“ **i don’t want him sitting next to her,** ” Sans snarled.

“Good thinking, Sans,” he cooed. “_____ and I can play footsies under the table.”

He bared his teeth and his whole demeanor got sharper. “ **do you _wanna_ be _dust_ tonight, _scrap heap?!_** ”

“Well, I could always sit _next_ to her, then. All the better to play with that _gorgeous_ hair…”

“Fucking _gods_ if you both don’t cut it out with your _dick measuring contest_ I’m going to start breaking _all_ the damn chairs. _Nobody_ sits.”

Plus the food is going to get cold at this rate. Sans turns to look at you, this odd expression of awe across his flushed face. What did you even say to earn a look like _that?_

“Here’s my solution:”

You pull the two chairs closest to you so that they’re right on the corner, and take a seat in one.

“Now, Papyrus, you sit in that seat, but pull both the other chairs to the corner first same as this side, alright?” you direct.

His bone white face seems to crinkle in irritation at being bossed around, but he gives in and does it. You turn to his brother.

“Sans, does this work to ease your nerves?” you ask. “You’re right next to me, Mettaton’s as far away as he can possibly get from me, and I’m buffered by your brother and the new distance between us.”

He practically falls into the chair next to you, snatching your hand in both of his and kissing you on the knuckles.

“ _STOP_ THAT,” you scold, pulling your hand away again.

He looks completely destroyed as he drops your hand, eyes downcast. He buries his fork into the slice of lasagna Papyrus laid out on plates for each of you, attitude completely sullen.

You’d almost feel bad for getting snippy with him if he hadn’t kidnapped you in the first place.

Mettaton chuckles from the opposite end of the table, and Sans’ head snaps up and _snarls_ at him.

“Your dynamic is so _interesting_ , I couldn’t help but be amused by it,” the metal man excuses himself. “I would have thought _Sans_ would be the dominant when he found his bonded, but it seems like the shoe’s on the other foot.”

“Any way I can trade him in?” you ask dryly.

Sans gasps next to you, clearly hurt. You pay him no mind.

“I’m afraid not, gorgeous,” Mettaton sighs. “I _thought_ this might be an issue.”

“ _What_ might be?”

He flicks his wiry hair to one side, then rests his hand over Papyrus’, gripping his fingers from behind in a casual display of intimacy. “Monsters and humans are _different_ , as I’m sure you’re aware,” he explains. “But also similar in many ways. One way in which we are _very_ different is in acknowledging the existence of soulmates, and in our responses to them.”

“Monsters are… Shall we say… More emotion and _instinct-driven_ than humans appear to be,” he continues. “There are certain triggers that can set off an aggressive response in a monster, regardless of their age, environment and upbringing, or any other factors you might think would be relevant. If pushed the wrong way, or challenged for dominance, we can become quite feral in order to defend ourselves or our property.”

“ **SANS IS DOING FAR BETTER THAN I ANTICIPATED,** ” Papyrus notes proudly. “ **AT LEAST HE HASN’T LOST HIS MIND TO HIS INSTINCTS YET. HE REMAINS LUCID AND SOMEWHAT IN CONTROL.** ”

“So, _seriously_ – you guys can go _crazy_ like some, _wild animal_ at the drop of a hat?” you ask.

“ **i mean when you say it like _that_ -**“

“Generally we prefer _not_ to be compared to animals,” Mettaton interrupts bitterly. “But… I _suppose_ the comparison under the circumstances _is_ apt. The issue here is that humans are too different in this respect – You are not ruled by your instincts as monsters tend to be, are less emotional in general, and the vast majority of humans do not even _believe_ soulmates are real.”

“Still not totally buying it even after today,” you grumble. “Hell, I’d sworn off dating _two years ago_ , I wasn’t interested in finding a new boyfriend, let alone a psycho _‘soulmate’_!”

“ **why’s that?** ” Sans pipes up. “ **did someone hurt you? _w h o_ .**”

“We’re not talking about that right now,” you assert.

“The dynamic _is_ fascinating…” Mettaton hums, pointing to the both of you and leaning in to his boyfriend. “I was almost certain Sans was a dominant, considering some of his… _Earlier_ exploits, but… It is almost as if _she_ has power over _him_ , and not the other way around…”

“ **BUT SANS IS _MUCH_ STRONGER THAN SHE IS, AND AGGRESSIVE IN HIS OWN RIGHT,**” Papyrus suggests. “ **IT WOULDN’T MAKE _SENSE_ FOR HIM TO RELINQUISH THE DOMINANT ROLE.**”

“You are absolutely right, my pet,” the robot coos. “This is clearly some new dynamic we haven’t witnessed before.”

“Mind not talking about us like we’re not here?” you challenge.

“My apologies again,” Mettaton says humbly. “We are just trying to figure out how this is going to work out.”

“Who says it _has_ to?” you counter.

His eyes – all four of them – narrow at you in warning.

“Because if you do _not_ find some way to reconcile this within yourself, Sans is at risk of crumbling to _dust_. Now that he’s met his soulmate, his survival is hinged heavily on _you_. As he _is_ my bonded’s brother, I _cannot allow that_.”

“Well, _I_ CAN’T ALLOW BEING _TRAPPED HERE_ AS HIS _SOULMATE!_ ” you shout, standing up and _slamming_ your hands against the table. “ _EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU_ IS TALKING LIKE IT’S ALREADY _DECIDED!_ DON’T _I_ GET A SAY IN THIS-?!“

“ **LEAVE THIS ROOM. _NOW_.**”

Papyrus stood up, positioning himself between you and Mettaton. He looks stressed out, his skull dotted with faintly red moisture. Is that sweat?

He pinches the bridge of his nose to center himself. “ **GO. _NOW_. DO _NOT_ MAKE ME REPEAT MYSELF AGAIN,**” he orders. “ **IF YOU ARE GOING TO BEHAVE _AGGRESSIVELY_ TOWARDS MY BONDED, I WILL BE _FORCED_ TO DEFEND HIM, AND MY BROTHER IN TURN WILL BE FORCED TO DEFEND _YOU_.**”

You’re still furious beyond belief, but you get it. He doesn’t want to throw down with his brother just because you’re pissed to hell and back that you’re stuck in this situation.

“ _Fine_ ,” you grumble, moving slowly to tuck in your chair. Papyrus’ eye lights are on you the whole time, so you want to avoid making any sudden moves. With that, you head out into the livingroom, with Sans following closely behind.


	5. just let me hold your hand.

“Why isn’t my phone working?”

You’ve stretched out on the couch and Sans has taken up his post on the floor immediately next to you.

“ **maybe ‘cause you’re underground, sweetheart.** ”

Ugh, that’s _right_ – you remember reading about the first appearance of monsters coming out from under Mount Ebott. The majority of them elected to stay underground after the first batch of settlers were dusted by human hate groups. But if that was the case, and Sans lives down here…

“Why were you at the grocery store today?”

“ **just picking up some snacks,** ” he responds simply.

“No, I mean, _my_ specific grocery store. Mount Ebott isn’t anywhere _near_ where I live – not even in the same _country_.”

“ **well,** ” he pauses, sweating a bit and rubbing at his cervical vertebrae. “ **canada’s been nicer to monsters than most places, and since i can teleport around i figured i’d give that one a shot. and, uh… i had a weird feeling.** ”

“A weird feeling?”

“ **yeah, like, something might happen there today. didn’t know what. almost called the whole thing off because of it, but…** ”

You sigh. “Do you guys have wifi down here or _anything?_ ”

“ **… why? what do you need?** ”

“I need to get online and message my friends so they don’t freak out. I at _least_ need to check in with my bestie once per day,” you explain.

“ **that makes sense,** ” he admits. “ **you might be here a while, and i wouldn’t want your friends getting upset.** ”

He rolls forward and offers you his phone. You take it, and he jerks when your fingers lightly graze his bones, like he’s reaching for more. Then he takes his hand in his other and scratches his palm, as if scolding himself for trying to get too close.

“… Thanks,” you say, tapping away at his huge phone.

He smiles warmly at that, narrow red slits in his sockets widening just a fraction in delight.

It takes you a second to find your blog and the link to the Discord server you run, but once you’re connected you ask your bestie to hop into a voice chat. You figure that’d be better than typing out what’s been happening over the last five hours.

“Hey,” you smile, relieved that you at least get this much. “So, quick update and _please_ don’t panic, but I’ve _kinda_ sort of been _kidnapped_ , but I’m totally fine! I should be back in a day or two hopefully, so yeah. Don’t panic and send the police or anything, _seriously_ , I’m not in any danger and I’ve got this under control.”

Sans slaps a hand over his face. “ **well, if you’d told me you were gunna put it like _that_ …**”

"That is _exactly_ what somebody who does not have things under control would say,” your bestie responds, and you smile. “It's like, 'Oh, don't be alarmed, one of my arms got chopped off and I'm bleeding, but I'll be fine as long as I constantly drink all of this orange juice!'"

You laugh at that. Good old Mike for bringing some levity to the situation you’re in.

“But seriously though, I’m fine and there’s no need to worry,” you reiterate.

“… Why would I worry?”

“ **is that a guy’s voice?** ” Sans perks up, snatching the phone back from you.

“ _SANS!_ You’re just going to freak him out!” you scramble.

The skeleton stands and walks off with the phone “ **who the  f u c k  are _y o u ?_** ”

You get up off of the couch and clamour over Sans trying to get the phone back before he does any more damage. “He’s my _best friend_ you idiot! You’re going to make this way worse than it needs to be!”

“… Your name is Sans, huh?”

You freeze when Sans does. Sans lets out a thunderous growl.

“ ** _you_ listen to _me_ asshole,**” he sneers into the phone. “ **_____ is _my_ soulmate, and i’m not gunna have any competition from some lowlife _pathetic_ human like  _y o u ._** ”

“… Alright then.”

Sans pulls the phone away from the side of his head abruptly, surprised.

“What just happened?”

“ **he hung up?** ” He taps at the phone experimentally for a second.

You snatch it away the next second. “He disconnected from the voice chat. … YOU FUCKING _IDIOT!_ ”

Sans backs up when you throw his phone at him.

“ **he shouldn’t be talking to you right now- and hey, same goes for _you_ ,**” he snarls. “ **i can’t handle any kinda competition for my soulmate right now. and who the hell _was_ that guy?**”

“He’s my _best friend_ for _life_ and now he’s going to freak the fuck out and you just gave him _EVERYTHING HE NEEDS_ TO FIGURE OUT _WHO YOU ARE_ AND _FIND YOU_.”

“ **i barely said _anything!_** ”

You count them off on your fingers. “He knows your name, ‘cause I said it when you grabbed the phone. He knows you’re a monster because you called him _human_. He knows you think we’re _soulmates_ – he can look up online for some more context on that probably. He knows you’re _aggressive_ and preventing me from talking to him, and that’s going to make him worry. _And_ he knows where to _find you_ , because most monsters are still down here.”

“ **so what? what can one human guy do anyways?** ” he challenges.

You smack him in his hard chest. “I was _TRYING_ to PROTECT HIM! I wanted to keep him CALM so he WOULDN’T DO _ANYTHING!_ I DIDN’T WANT him learning _EVERYTHING YOU JUST GAVE HIM!_ ”

He takes a moment to process this.

“Hell, I even opened the voice chat so he could _hear_ me for _proof of life_ ,” you continue. “That way he _knows_ it’s me and won’t get suspicious that somebody’s sending weird messages on a guest account _claiming_ to be me.”

“ **that’s smart- _gahh_ , i fucked up, didn’t it.**”

“You sure did. And you’re going to have to let me talk to him every day to make sure he doesn’t do anything drastic.”

“ ** _n o   w a y ._** ”

“ _YES_ way. The _only thing_ that’ll keep him home and out of trouble now is hearing from me _daily_. Voice chat, _not text_.”

“ ** _uurghh,_** ” he groans. “ **seriously, i can’t-** “

“Because he’s male!?”

“ **honestly? _yes_. that’s _exactly_ the reason why. it sets off my competitive instincts, i can’t handle it.**”

You rub your hands over your face for a second, almost as if trying to push the headache brewing to the back of your brain for a sec so you can just _think_.

“ **… hey, how ‘bout a compromise?** ”

“What?”

He reaches for your hand and grips it gently in both of his, smoothing his hands over it. “ **just let me hold your hand more often, and you can call your friend.** ”

“… That’s _it?_ ”

“ **yup,** ” he says, smiling faintly now. “ **seriously, it helps keep me grounded, just bein’ able to touch you, and having you close.** ”

… _Stop being cute_. This situation _is in no way_ cute.

“I think I can tolerate this,” you sigh resignedly. “But you HAVE to let me talk to him _DAILY_.”

“ **i’ll… well, i’m not going to be _completely_ okay with it, but i’ll grin an’ bear it best that i can manage.**”

“… Okay.”

“ **okay.** ”

…

“I need to use the bathroom.”

“ ** _uhhhh,_** ” he awkwardly stammers, realizing how hand holding might not be the most comfortable thing for you while you’re in there. “ **i’m… i’ll let go, but i’ll stand outside of it just ‘cause i _need_ to stay close.**”

“I guess that’s fine if it keeps you sane. Do you have a spare toothbrush?”

“ **yeah, paps bought a four pack. should still be one left.** ”

It’s insane that this is somehow becoming normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TimeCloneMike has entered the fic :P


	6. stop being so damn cute.

“How do monsters normally react to soulmates finding each other?”

Sans pointed out earlier that the couch actually has a foldout bed (probably the reason _why_ it was so stiff and uncomfortable) and he set it up for you with fresh sheets. He said he should sleep on the floor nearby ‘for safety’, and you weren’t sure whether he meant because his room would be too far away from you, or if he meant that joining you on the foldout bed might mean _groping_ you again. Either way, you were appreciative of his foresight.

“ **usually if it happens we just kinda give the new couple their space to mark and bond and stuff,** ” he replies, tracing his phalanges gently over the surface of the bedsheets.

While he was staying on the floor, he still wanted to see you, so he was sitting with his arms folded on the far side of the bed, head resting against them as he looked at you. The lights are off as you wanted to try and sleep today off, so his face is illuminated only by those red slivers of light in his sockets.

You’d asked because you wanted to know the protocol here, as there’s definitely a culture gap. “What about their families? What if they don’t like the pairing or can’t accommodate newfound soulmates needing their space?”

“ **they just have to deal with it, ‘cause soulmate instincts can make a dominant feral at the drop of a hat. we’ve got more than enough reasons to dust each other down here, no reasons to do it over true love.** ”

You notice he blushes a bit at that, glancing away.

“How long is this gunna take?” you ask. “Like, before you can calm down and be sane again.”

“ **… i don’t know,** ” he sighs. “ **could be a couple of days. … could be a _month_ …**”

“A _month!?_ ”

“ **hey, i don’t make the rules, i’m just stuck following them.** ” He shifts to bury his face in his arms, almost ashamed as he groans.

“I was _sort of_ okay with maybe hanging out for a couple of days, but- _Shit_ , Sans, I’ve got _work_ on Monday!”

He lifts his head up and looks at you severely. “ **call in sick. better yet, _quit_.**”

“I can’t do that, I need the money!”

“ **i’ll get you anythin’ you need from now on. name it and it’s yours.** ”

You scowl at him in the dark. “I don’t _work_ like that. I _need_ my independence, financially _and_ otherwise.”

“ **and i’ve got a need to be your provider. i don’t want you to have to lift a finger for anything ever again if i can help it.** ”

“Isn’t there any way to break this soulmate thing?”

His eye lights enlarge and he looks like he might cry.

“… Sorry,” you feel compelled to say. “I just… You’ve _got_ to understand that humans aren’t _like_ this _at all_. You can’t just insert yourself into _my_ narrative out of the blue and expect me to be _okay_ with it – I’ve got my _own_ shit to deal with, my own life to live. I can’t accommodate having a soulmate, it’s just _not_ going to work out.”

He rubs at his sockets morosely. “ **i get that we’re not on the same page, but… _listen_ ,**” he sighs heavily, like the weight of his heart just increased tenfold. “ **we _can’t_ break up or anything, ‘cause in _every_ instance monster soulmates have tried, they _died_.**”

… That hits you like a punch to the gut.

“ **that’s actually why one of the two other instances of mixed soulmates died,** ” he notes, reminding you of what Papyrus said earlier. “ **she rejected him, and he dusted within a couple days.** ”

“How does _THAT_ work?!”

“ **my bro mentioned we’re more emotional than humans, yeah? if we feel depressed enough, we can just _dust_ ourselves, just like that. losing a soulmate under _any_ context is a sure way to dust.**”

…

It’s too much.

You roll away and bury your face into the pillow.

“ **sweet-?** ”

The foldout bed squeaks loudly as his massive weight drops onto it. You feel his hand stroking your hair and rubbing up and down your side as your body shakes with a sob.

“ _Don’t_ \- just _DON’T_ ,” you choke out.

His hands withdraw and he sighs deeply, but he snakes his arm around you and puts his hand over one of yours, hoping that at least that’s still okay. You continue crying into the pillow, completely wracked with grief over how drastically your situation has changed.

You didn’t even _know_ monster soulmates were a thing until today, when yours apparently saw you for the first time and _kidnapped_ you from your shopping trip. You were dragged down here against your will, and everybody is just _totally fine_ with just keeping you prisoner for a while, and nobody really even considered or _cared_ that you might have a few problems with that!

And yet you _can’t_ just back out of it now, because apparently Sans might _DIE_ if you reject him now!

You didn’t get _any_ choice in the matter. Control over your own life was just _ripped out from under you_ and you don’t even have any way of taking it _back_.

So you’re having a meltdown about it, because _damnit_ , that’s about the _only_ _option_ you have _left_ at this point that you can take.

“ **… can i tell you a story?** ”

… What?

“ **… i wasn’t too happy when paps found his soulmate the first time, y’know. if anything, i was _furious_.**”

“What happened?”

His thumb rubs over the back of your hand in an attempt to soothe you. Right now, you’re kind of okay with it.

“ **well,** ” Sans continues softly. “ **he was always super obsessed with mettaton whenever he saw him on tv. he knew everything there ever was to know about that guy, and he’d go nuts if he ever heard that mettaton had a boyfriend or girlfriend. ranted about it for _weeks_ how nobody was good enough for him. finally i saved up enough money to take him to a live show.**”

You decide to roll over to face him, still keeping the pillow clutched to your chest. He smiles when he gets to see your face, and his hand absently tangles into your hair.

“ **mettaton spotted him in the crowd in the middle of a song, and he just walked off the stage over to my brother, and started making out with him right then and there. paps was only _sixteen_ , and mettaton is _ten years_ his senior – i was _pissed_ beyond _belief_. how could he just _steal_ my brother’s innocence _right in front of me_ like that?**”

“ **but i knew,** ” he sighed. “ **i knew _right away_ it was a soulmate thing. he immediately cancelled the show, everyone went home, and mettaton took my brother away with him for _three weeks_. came back marked, bonded, and just _completely_ head over heels for his idol. mettaton did an encore show the next month as an apology to his fans, and my brother sat on stage ‘cause they weren’t totally ready to be separated just yet.**”

You can imagine how angry Sans must have been, having his brother taken away from him at only _sixteen_. If someone who was _ten years older_ than one of your siblings _abducted_ them claiming ‘soulmates’ – well, the police better _hope_ they catch up with them, before _you_ did.

“That’s _awful_.”

“ **yeah, it _was_. but, sometimes it’s just something that happens down here,**” he hums softly. “ **we’ve all pretty much accepted it one way or another. it’s not an everyday thing but it _is_ a well-known thing, and… i guess, with humans in the mix, more an’ more of us are finding our soulmates out of the blue.**”

He smiles warmly at you when he says it, continuing to gently stroke your hair. “How come you didn’t think _you’d_ have a soulmate?” you ask.

His expression gets sheepish. “ **… not everyone gets one,** ” he explains. “ **maybe about half of us or less. sometimes you just never meet them because you live at different times, sometimes they’re not even the gender you were expecting,** ” he rolls his eyes, clearly thinking about Paps and Mettaton. “ **i figured, since my brother found his so early on the odds were against me havin’ one too.** ”

He takes a long, deep breath. “ **i _get_ how angry you are, ‘cause i guess i’ve been there too once. but, i _really_ can’t help it, and, i hope that maybe you can find some way to tolerate me in time, ‘cause we’re both pretty much stuck like this an’ there’s no going back.**”

… At least he knows how you feel. He’s making an effort to keep his distance too, and not do too much without your say so. He’s also being very gentle and nurturing right now, like he really wants to make sure you’re okay.

“… The story helped. Thank you, Sans.”

“ ** _god damnit_.**”

You’re confused as he rolls onto his back and rubs at his sockets.

“ **you’re _too cute_ , i can’t _handle_ it. i’m gunna… i’ll move back to the floor now before i do anything too weird,**” he mutters grumpily. “ ** _uuurghghh._** ”

He groans the whole way back to the floor on the far side of the foldout bed, and you’d almost ask him what the heck is going on…

… If you hadn’t noticed the fact that the front of his shorts was glowing _red_ , and… _Poking out a bit_.

You roll to face away from him again. “Good night, Sans,” you groan.

“ **night sweetheart. sweet dreams an’ all that.** ”

You have _no_ idea what kinds of dreams you’ll be having tonight, but you have your doubts about them being _sweet_.


	7. heaven's wherever you are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I _know_ how the first part might _sound_ but I just wanted to jump in here and spoil it for you real quick to keep anyone from panicking; There is _no foul play here_. Sans didn't touch you, you made some involuntary noises in your sleep so he just went upstairs to take care of something. This isn't going to be that kind of fic because I am _mega pro-consent_ in _everything_ , so yeah. He gets grabby sometimes but he won't do _that_. Ever. Capiche?

You had a sex dream at some point in the night. _That_ was mortifying, considering where you are and the situation you’re in. Fortunately, Sans _wasn’t_ on the floor when you got up to clean yourself up, but he was back by the time you were, lying face down on the sleeping bag. Where did he go?

Other than that, you just had weird dreams you can’t remember clearly, just bits and fragments. In one of them you remember kissing someone passionately and the colour red, but that was about it. All you know is that you’re trying not to read too much into anything right now.

You don’t really know what to do with yourself today though. You’re stuck here for what could be a _month_ , and you won’t even really be able to go back to your aunt’s place and get your stuff either. If Sans is going to flip his lid at every guy you talk to, what’s he going to do to your cousin Paul if he happens to be at home?

You really _are stuck_ here, aren’t you.

Deciding to scam a few more minutes of cozy time, you bury yourself into the blankets further, deciding to just enjoy the fact that you don’t really have anything you’re responsible for anyways.

About an hour into said cozy time, a large figure climbs onto the bed with you and gently tucks your hair out of the way to kiss the side of your face. You roll to see him, yawning a bit from sleep.

“ **mornin’ sweetheart,** ” Sans greet giddily.

“Morning,” you hum.

“ **i wanted to start doing that, if that’s okay,** ” he says sheepishly, like a child asking if they can have a cookie.

You blink.

“… I guess it’s fine,” you figure. It seems innocent enough, all things considered.

He beams at you before rolling off the bed to stand, doing a victorious fist pump in the air. You cover your mouth with the top of the blanket to chuckle. He spins around and claps his hands together excitedly, making a loud _clack_ noise as bone hits bone.

“ **what would you like for breakfast? anything you want,** ” he offers.

“I don’t know, whatever you’re having should be fine?” you shrug.

“ **come on. i wanna make something special for you. what’s your favourite?** ”

“I’m not honestly a breakfast person normally,” you admit, sitting up finally and brushing out your hair with your fingers. “I don’t even feel hungry most mornings right after I wake up, most days I wait until almost lunch to eat.”

His face gets serious for a second. “ **you should eat breakfast every day _____,** ” he scolds you gently. “ **come on. you can have anything you want.** ”

You roll your shoulders and sigh. “I don’t know… Something like, crepes and berries or something?”

His face falls slightly. “ **what are crepes?** ”

“… It’s okay if you don’t know how to make them,” you excuse.

“ **no, i want to make you what you want _____, i just haven’t heard of crepes before.** ”

You throw the blankets off and shuffle out of bed. “I think I have a recipe memorized still. I can show you,” you say, heading past him into the kitchen.

 

* * *

 

It took a couple of tries, but you got your recipe working finally.

“ **that’s not a lot of batter,** ” Sans observes. “ **and it’s really kind of runny.** ”

“It’s supposed to be,” you inform him. “Crepes are like thin, sweet egg pancakes. I dunno, they’re just good.”

“ **i can’t wait to try them,** ” he says, kissing you behind your ear as his hands hold your hips gently.

…

“ _Okay,_ ” you huff, holding your hands up. “That’s a bit too much for me right now.”

It was domestic and sweet and _stop doing backflips, damnit_.

His hands immediately fly off your person and he shuffles away to lean against the other end of the counter. “ **sorry,** ” he apologizes.

“… What’s it like for you?” you ask.

After all, you’ve been so wrapped up in being _angry_ at this whole soulmate thing that you haven’t really considered his feelings _at all_. And, having realized that just _now_ , you feel kind of bad about it.

“ **… _awesome_ ,**” he grins. “ ** _and_ awful, all at the same time.**”

Well, _that’s_ clear as mud. “What do you mean?”

“ **well,** ” he hums. “ **it’s like i’m in heaven, but it’s _only heaven_ so long as you’re near me, because otherwise it _burns_. it’s _excruciating_. seeing you, an’ holding your hand helps a bit. not a _lot_ , but it still helps. it makes it burn less and i just feel warm instead.**”

You sigh and offer your free hand. He takes it giddily, smoothing his hard thumb over your knuckles. “What were you thinking about when you first saw me? Like, how did you know I was your soulmate?”

“ **it was like… i was just _dumbstruck_ , out of _nowhere_. i saw you, and _bam_. the only _actual_ thought i had was ‘ _oh my god_ , it’s   _h e r_.’ and then after that, just… i blanked out. everything after that was feelings, instincts, just a haze of emotions and impulses and i was completely lost in the mess of ‘em.**”

“ **you pushing me away kinda snapped me back to the real world,** ” he adds after a second, his hand squeezing yours gently. “ **… i don’t know what i would’ve done if you hadn’t. probably something you _really_ wouldn’ve liked.**”

“Is it… Are you _really_ so out of control around me?” you have to ask. Honestly, apart from the initial kidnapping thing, he’s been really kind of passive and… Sweet? “Like, what kind of impulses are we talking about, exactly?”

His hand trembles in yours as he lets his head fall forward to hide in his folded up arm on the counter, highlights of red around the sides of his face evidence of a bright red blush. “ ** _god_ , don’t even make me _think_ about it. ‘m holding myself back a _lot_ , okay? i’m _barely_ keeping it together.**”

“… Sorry…”

His face snaps back up. “ **no! _please_ , no, it’s my issue. right now, i’m holding steady so long as i keep focusing on how to make _you_ comfy an’ happy. that’s _gotta_ be the most important thing. it sucks you’re not on the same page, but i’m hoping you’ll… catch up? i mean, i never heard of soulmates who didn’t reciprocate _at all_.**”

You’re still not totally sure where you are on that, whether that tiny idiot in your brain that is enjoying the attention because it’s been a couple years since you last saw anybody, or whether it _might_ be some legitimate soulmate thing? You’re still struggling with the whole idea of soulmates in the first place, though. But nothing Sans says seems disingenuous.

All you know is that, part of you is happy for the attention, and that holding his hand just feels… _Right_. Natural.

“… I’m still grappling with the whole idea of soulmates in the first place,” you admit. “And, I think a large part of me is resistant to it because, well, I’ve said it half a dozen times already that I didn’t really get a choice in the matter,” you rehash. “But, _also_ because I had pretty much sworn off dating altogether. Having an instant boyfriend all of a sudden is just _not_ what I was counting on yesterday.”

“ **that’s totally fair.** ”

“What about you? I mean, _you’ve_ dated before too, right?”

He groans bitterly and glances away in disgust. “ **now that i’ve met you i wish i’d never met _any_ of ‘em. if i could just completely _erase_ them from memory i’d do it in a _soul beat_.**”

You plate up the last of the crepes and let go of his hand to offer him the larger portion. He blinks his sockets and accepts it, then smiles easily.

“Will your brother flip if we eat on the couch?” you ask. You’re not totally done having a lazy Sunday morning, even given the circumstances.

“ **oh, _definitely_ ,**” he grins, gesturing through the doorway to the livingroom. “ **but lets anyway. _____, after you?** ”


	8. Netflix and Feral.

“You guys have Netflix?”

“ **oh, yeah. we got a tv box hooked up a while ago. mettaton got pap into it,** ” he explains.

“What about you?”

He shrugs. “ **haven’t watched much on it yet. it’s all human shows, so i just haven’t gotten into it.** ”

“Do you mind if I put something on?”

“ **are you saying you wanna ‘netflix and chill’?** ” he grins wolfishly.

You lean away from him on the couch bed, which neither of you saw a reason to put away for now. “Not if you’re going to look at me like _THAT_.”

“ **… sorry.** ”

“I just… I like watching shows together, for uh… Dates and stuff,” you admit sheepishly, picking at one of your crepes. “I hope that isn’t too boring.”

“ **that’s not boring at all. that sounds _amazing_. i wanna know everything there is to know about you, _____,**” he gushes.

Well… Likewise, a bit? Especially if you’re going to be _soulmates_.

He offers you the remote. “ **you pick. anything you want.** ”

You scroll through the guide, bored of the new series recommendations. “… Red versus Blue?”

“ **what’s that?** ”

You grin. “… Red versus Blue it is.”

You take a minute to brief him on the concept of machinima, and how this series is based off of a video game and how it was supposed to be an April Fool’s joke but that it kind of got out of hand.

“The first couple of seasons are old and kind of slow, but you _need_ to watch them as they establish a lot of running gags throughout the series, or else you won’t understand them.”

“ **i’m all for it sweetheart,** ” he agrees easily, genuinely interested. “ **and this is one of your favourite shows?** ”

“ _Ever_. Of _all time_.”

“ **i’m sold. do we need snacks?** ”

Of course he doesn’t get the reference. In time he will.

“I’m okay with my crepes for now,” you shrug.

He smiles and settles in on the floor next to the foldout bed.

“… Hey, Sans. C’mere.”

He looks at you strangely for a second, so you pat the open space on the bed beside you.

“ **… you really want me sitting next to you?** ”

His expression is like a little kid who’s just discovered the magic of Christmas.

“Yeah,” you say. “Why not?”

“ **i dunno,** ” he hums, standing up and settling in beside you. “ **i just thought maybe that’d be too close for you right now.** ”

“I’m… I’m _trying_ ,” you admit. “I may not be on the same page emotionally just yet, but… Honestly? You’re not _terrible_ , and so I just want to try to relax around you more. Try and trust you.”

Those must have been the magic words because he is absolutely _swooning_ right now.

“ **WHAT ARE THOSE PLATES DOING ON MY COUCH??** ”

Well, Papyrus is up. You turn to wave good morning to him.

Sans rests his hand on your shoulder and chuckles. “ **soulmate wanted breakfast in bed,** ” he excuses playfully. “ **couldn’t tell her no.** ”

This _brat!_ “ _Oh,_ so the whole plan was to blame it on _me_ -“

Sans **_ROARS_**.

And you’re suddenly on your back.

“S- _Sans?!_ ”

He’s hunched over you with a hand grabbing the front of your shirt roughly, like a predator ready to pounce. There’s no light coming from his sockets from what you can see of his face. His mouth is wide in a razor sharp grimace, teeth parted and snarling. He’s breathing unsteadily, transfixed on something somewhere over your head.

You’d taken his sweet and demure nature for granted. He’s _terrifying_.

And you have no idea what to do. You look back at Papyrus at the top of the stairs for some sort of guidance, maybe even an explanation for why his brother just _snapped?_

Mettaton had come out of the room, one foot in the air over the top step, but he brings it behind him and steps back slowly. He encircles Papyrus to kiss him lovingly, and when Sans snorts and growls at him further, he sighs.

“I’ll take the balcony today, pet.”

The balcony? Well, maybe with his extendable arms he can just do a handstand off of it, or something.

“Come over tonight,” he purrs.

“ **I WILL.** ”

Papyrus walks him down the hall to the right to a door that must lead to a balcony. Sans watches him the whole way.

Once Mettaton’s gone, the massive skeleton apparently protecting you grabs you roughly by your hair and shoulder. His fingers find their way into the collar of your shirt, pulling it away from your shoulder as he nuzzles your neck, breathing heavily. He’s leaving tiny, intimate kisses all over your skin, and then you feel his closed, razor sharp teeth rest against your sensitive flesh.

“SANS!” You start drumming his broad chest with both hands, panic-singing his name. “ _Sans, Sans_ , Earth to _Sans!_ I’m not cool with this!!”

He snaps out of it very slowly, pulling away and shaking his head a bit.

“ **what the fu- _oh god_.**”

He pulls both his hands away and shuffles away from you. He starts blinking as if he’s having trouble focusing, rubbing his large hands over his face.

“ **what happened? what did i do??** ” he panics.

“You saw Mettaton come out of Pap’s room and _freaked out_ ,” you explain.

“ **ugh, i can still _smell_ that guy,**” he snorts.

“You weren’t kidding when you said you could go nuts at the drop of a hat,” you highlight. “You startled the _hell_ out of me.”

“ **… are you scared of me?** ”

His voice is so tiny, genuinely afraid of what your answer might be. He doesn’t want to scare you.

“… In general? No, not really,” you answer, holding a hand over your chest. “Just now, though? Yeah, you got my blood pumping a bit.”

You had confidence that you could snap him out of it though, for some reason. Like you knew without a doubt that you could bring him back to sanity.

But you don’t _know_ this person _at all_ , the logical part of your brain argues with you. You’ve known him less than _twenty-four hours_. What if the bestial side that fucking _roared_ at his brother’s boyfriend is the _normal_ Sans? And the sweet demure boy who only wants to please you is the exception?

But, you know that that doesn’t make _sense_. Somehow, you just _know_.

“... Come here.”

He looks confused as hell, but you open your arms for him and he slowly scooches back over to you, instead of pressing himself into the furthest corner of the couch. You give him a hug and his warm hands stroke your back, then you turn and sit against him with the remote in hand.

“… We didn’t even get to start our date yet,” you point out.

“ **… so it’s a date then, huh?** ” he rumbles at your back.

“Yeah. I mean, if we’re _soulmates_ and this is going to be like, a _thing_ , then I think a simple, super casual first date is in order.”

He fiddles with your hair a bit and kisses the back of your head. “ **you’re so fucking amazing. you’re perfect.** ”

“ _That_ might be a little much for first date talk,” you tease him.

“ **right. sorry.** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not-so-gentle reminder that he's still technically nutso right now XD


	9. Not a reality check I wanted right now.

About five minutes into it, he grabbed a pillow and stuck it between you and his lap.

About five minutes after that, he nervously asked if you could pause the show while he went upstairs to ‘take care of something’.

You decided to get up and raid the kitchen for snacks while you tried to ignore what that might be.

A bag of all dressed chips in hand, you heard the tap in the bathroom upstairs running, then a moment later he was back downstairs with you to continue watching the show. At least he washed his hands.

He really enjoyed it though, once he got settled in. His laugh ranges from shaky giggles to outright guffaws at the shenanigans happening on screen.

“That was actually a test,” you inform him playfully after the first season is done. “If you couldn’t sit through the first season of Red versus Blue with me then there’s no way we could be soulmates.”

“ **so, i passed?** ”

“With flying colours.”

“ **awesome. when can we watch the next one?** ”

“Actually, I wanted to ask; When do you think it’ll be okay to go get my stuff from my aunt’s place?”

He crooks a brow bone at that. “ **what stuff?** ”

You sigh. “My clothes, personal things, hair stuff? I can’t just wear the same outfit every day and _not bathe_ for a _month_.”

He shrugs. “ **i wouldn’t mind.** ”

“Sans! _Gross!_ ”

He chuckles. “ **i can buy ya anything you need, sweetheart.** ”      

“There’s no sense buying me anything when I have perfectly good stuff at my aunt’s place right now,” you insist. “Seriously though, I need my stuff.”

He sighs and runs a big hand over his face, trying to hide the fact that he looks a bit anxious at the thought of going out. “ **_____, i’m sorry, but it’s _really_ not a good idea for me to be goin’ anywhere right now. i’m kinda in heat.**”

…

“ _What?_ ”

“ **humans don’t get that, do they?** ” he smiles awkwardly. “ **yeah, uhh… i guess when i found ya it kicked in pretty bad. makes a sorta sense though, ‘cause soulmates usually mark an’ bond on the first day. it’s all instincts.** ”

It’s taking some effort on your brain’s part in order to process this new information.

On the one hand, sure, you know what ‘heat’ is. Animals go into heat at various times of the year to breed and stuff.

On the other, he _basically_ just told you he wants to have _sex_ with you. And possibly _BREED?!_

And in a third, super _loud_ part of your brain, it’s like it _wants_ to be confused about his meaning _so desperately_ that it’s sending all of your rational thoughts into a tailspin.

… Is _that_ why he said he’s having so much trouble maintaining control?!

_Gods that’s so uncomfortable._

“Aaagagghhhghh,” you choke out, curling into a ball with your hands over your flushed face and falling over onto your side.

“ **um…** ” Sans sweats. “ **did you need me to explain it?** ”

“I think I get the general idea,” you whine, turning and burying your face into the mattress. “It just gave my brain a blue screen error.”

“ **a what?** ”

“Computer term,” you mumble. “Basically I just had a severe crash and I’m trying to reboot and figure myself out.”

“ **anything i can do?** ”

“Stay over there and don’t touch me right now.”

“ **… okay.** ”

Yesterday, you were hell bent on getting the _fuck_ out of here as fast as possible. And honestly, who could blame you? Last night that shifted into resigned acceptance, so long as Sans gave you space to control the _elements_ of your visit even if you can’t control the visit itself, like when you took over the dinner seating situation and then this morning when you decided what was for breakfast and what to watch to kill time. He’s also been doing his best to make you comfortable despite everything, listening when you tell him to stop or not to do something, and keeping a respectful distance. So you’ve just been trying to roll with the punches, make this situation more tolerable for yourself and try to be understanding of how the whole ‘soulmate’ thing affects him.

And he’s not terrible, like you said earlier. He’s trying not to make the situation any worse than it already is. You could honestly see yourself becoming comfortable with hanging out with Sans and having casual movie sessions from time to time.

But the addition of the fact that he wants to _BREED_ you, possibly desperately if his going off to ‘ _take care of something_ ’ is a way to cope, is pushing you back towards your breaking point.

… You’ve always wanted to have your own kids, but never really found a guy who was good enough to take that step with. Sans is hell-bent on your happiness and would’ve knocked you up _yesterday_ if you’d been on the same page at all.

_Okay that was not a thought worthy of FIVE backflips._

Sighing, you pull at the crumpled covers beneath you and tuck yourself in.

“ **… _____? are you okay?** ”

“I’m on the verge of having another meltdown so I’m just going to try for a nap to get my brain to shut up,” you explain. You’re not even sure _why_ you’re explaining this to him, just that it all tumbles out of your mouth before you can stop it.

You also know that you’re no longer upset with him over kidnapping you in the first place, even though you feel like you should be. That anger just isn’t _there_ anymore.

This is _way_ too complicated for you to handle right now.

“ **want me to leave?** ”

Is there any sense in him making himself uncomfortable for your sake, by moving to the floor or leaving the room, when he can’t genuinely control what his body’s telling him to do?

“You can stay there if you want,” you offer. “Just… I don’t want to be touched right now.”

 _That’s_ fair, isn’t it?

You hear him shuffle to lie down on the far side of the couch bed as you try and settle in for a nap.

 

* * *

 

He snores like an old engine on its last legs trying to run on less than a drop of oil. It’s _loud_ , and _grating_ , and just… What the _hell?_

He’s a _skeleton_ , does he even _have_ the stuff in his throat necessary to _make_ that level of noise? How did you not even _notice_ last night?

In any case, you managed to catch less than a half hour of sleep, but not because of him.

Because of your over-active brain trying to _manipulate_ you into embracing this relationship for no logical reasons whatsoever. Thinking about what your babies would look like and being a mom and stuff. And everything else that would inevitably come with that.

Like… _Sex_. With _Sans_. Whom you only just met yesterday when he _kidnapped_ you to wherever the _fuck this_ is.

Is it even _physically possible_ to be angry that you’re _not_ angry about something? Because that’s what you are right now.

Ugh, you need fresh air.

You roll out of bed as silently as possible, noticing Sans has balled up the comforter against him, clutching and sniffing it as he continues chainsaw-snoring. You have a fleeting thought that it’s kinda cute.

A quick walk around your new neighbourhood shouldn’t hurt if he’s asleep, right? You haven’t seen any of it so far, plus you stomach is in knots after only having a couple of crepes for breakfast. You’re _starving_.

You head for the front door and slip back into your sneakers you were wearing yesterday, opening it as quietly as you can.

And then you resist the temptation to slam it back shut. _Snow?!_ It’s _June!_ And aren’t you underground?!

Grumbling to yourself you grab the first jacket in the closet you see, pulling it over yourself to guard against the frigid air. It’s enormous, fur-lined, and smells strongly of sweat and musk. Must be Sans’, then.

Once you’re better dressed for the unexpected cold, you set off in the snow in a random direction.

… Grillby’s, huh? That sounds like a place that might sell burgers. You just hope they take Canadian debit cards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also lmao I lied to Discord, here's another chapter on my day off! XD


	10. Things escalate slowly.

You head inside the monster restaurant to a bunch of stares. Gritting your teeth, you wait by the door to see if someone will come to the host stand. It’s a fancier place than you expected, like a fine dining place with all the frills, and though it has a small dining area, it’s completely packed.

Some kind of bluish-purple fire monster takes notice of you, then comes to the stand and bows slightly. He’s very sharply dressed with navy blue slacks and a vest over a pristine white dress shirt and red tie, and there are white flames in amoungst the blue and purple hues that make up a face with eyes and a broad smile.

“... Welcome,” he greets, his voice a smooth, low crackle. He takes a moment to adjust his tie before taking a menu. “My name is Grillby, owner of this establishment and chef... Table for one?”

“I was actually hoping for takeout. Do you do burgers?” you ask. “I just want, like, a cheeseburger with all the fixings.”

He hums thoughtfully. “... I am certain I can prepare something for you,” he offers. “Would you like to wait in the back while I put together your meal?”

“I’m good here, thanks.”

“... I beg your pardon?” he almost looks insulted.

“Did I stutter?” you challenge. “I said I’ll be fine right here.”

You don’t really want to be hanging out here for very long, plus you’ve already had _more_ than enough of monsters trying to take you to strange places over the last day or so.

“... It can get very cold by the door,” Grillby points out.

You shrug. “I’m a Canadian in a big fluffy coat. This is practically a spring day to me.” With the coat zipped up it hangs almost to your knees. Sans is a big dude.

He seems to look past you for a moment, tilting his head side to side before he leans in close. “... If you don’t mind my saying,” he mutters conspiratorially. “We do not see a lot of humans underground, and you are attracting attention to yourself. It can be very dangerous to stand out amoung monsters, you know. I would think your safety would be a concern to you.”

“I’m fine by the door,” you lean away, getting a bit ticked off at his insistence to drag you off. “Just let me know when my food is done and how much to pay for it. You take debit, right?”

He seems to let out a long breath as his flaming face shifts, then he bows again as he finally relents. “... Very well. I will return once your food is ready.”

“Thank you.”

 

* * *

It _figures_ that one of Sans’ human _flings_ would wander into his restaraunt on a whim. The evidence was _unmistakeable_ \- you were wearing his jacket and shared the same _belligerent attitude_ , after all.

Besides, it’s _incredibly_ unlikely that you’re his _soulmate_ – his brother already found his, and you appear to be lacking in any marks on your exposed neck area. If you’re staying with Sans because you’re a soulmate, he would have surely taken care to stake his claim as soon as possible. No, soulmate was about as unlikely as any of the snow melting outside. Snowdin, for some reason or another, was _perpetually_ cold.

What a _pity_ you should have to put up with an undeserving man like _Sans_. You were sharp-tongued and _strikingly beautiful_ , and in spite of whatever _exploits_ you might have had with the skeleton last night, you were _completely unclaimed_.

Grillby thinks he might like to do something about that.

 

* * *

 

You weren’t really sure what you were expecting from the other monsters in the establishment, but while there were some stares and whispers, they all pretty well just left you alone to stand by the door.

A lot of them were dog monsters, which threw you a bit. One or two of them sniffed the air in your direction, then turned away, scoffing.

Finally Grillby comes back with a takeout container in his hands, and you let out a long sigh of relief. He’s been gone only about ten minutes but they felt like the _longest_ ten minutes of your life. You were starving and eager to get back to Sans before he woke up. You take out your debit card and hold it up.

“You never answered me if you took debit or not,” you point out. “It’s a Canadian card but it should still work just fine.” You’ll just get hit with whatever the exchange rate is plus a fee.

He holds out the container to you, shaking his head. “… On the house,” he hums pleasantly, stepping into your personal space.

You’re already not a fan of where this is going. There’s something in his demeanor that is ringing _all_ of your alarm bells. One of the dog monsters turns fully in their chair and looks at the two of you, as if anticipating something is about to happen. “I’d rather pay-“

The container is practically pushed into you so you grip it with both hands to keep it from falling. “Provided,” he continues, interrupting you. “That you do something for _me_ …”

One of his hands weaves its way into your hair as the other grabs you by your waist, his mouth closing in on your neck.

You don’t have the time to juggle the food to one arm to shove this asshole off of you, nor to even just throw it back in his smug face.

Because large hands grab you and yank you out of the way, and a familiar **_ROAR_** rips through the air.

The next thing you know Grillby is being thrown through the front window, and you’re being carried outside.

Sans sets you down and then puts himself bodily between you and the recovering fire monster in the snow. Grillby looks _furious_ , his flames spilling out of his suit more dramatically than before and he even loses some of his humanoid appearance. A high wall of blue flames bursts out of the snow all around the three of you.

Sans is absolutely _gone_ to the world, snarling and ready to throw down in a fight to the death.

You don’t really want to know what happens next.

Surprised you’re still holding the food container, you toss it carelessly into the snow behind you, and get in front of Sans. You put both hands on his chest and start drumming. “Sans? Come back to me Sans! Don’t waste your energy on that asshole, just snap out of it! _Sans!_ ”

His eye lights are gone, only black sockets greet you and his teeth are bared. He’s breathing hard and clenching his hands. He grabs you and moves you back behind him mindlessly in spite of your protests.

… It’s not working this time.

You move back in front of him, desperate for a plan, something you can do to stop this fight before it starts. At least Grillby hasn’t made a move towards either of you, watching the scene with measured interest.

Then you suddenly know _exactly_ what you can do.

You kiss him. Your soulmate.

You peck the corner of his mouth at first, and that stuns him long enough that you get another peck in. It’s clumsy as hell since his mind isn’t all there, focused entirely on ripping the other guy apart for daring to touch you, and his wide mouth full of teeth doesn’t exactly line up with your much smaller pair of lips. But it does distract him enough that he starts kissing you back.

His huge arms wrap around you, big hands pressing into you and pulling you into him as he kisses you, gentle and slow, at first. Then as you’re suddenly out of the cold, his kisses get longer, needier, and you hear the zipper of his jacket being pulled downward as he moves to undress you. It pools on the floor around your feet as his hands smooth against your body.

This is almost just like yesterday, when he first brought you here. Except he’s taking his time. He’s _savouring_ this.

So… Why are you still kissing him?

Things escalate, but they do so blissfully slowly. There’s a hunger behind his lips, in his hands as they press you firmly against him, warm hard bone meeting skin as your shirt is pushed up out of the way and his hands smooth against your back. But he’s unhurried in his ministrations, as if waiting to see if you’ll push him away again.

… Why aren’t you pushing him away?

You’re in his room again, you faintly realize, and it’s a bit tidier than before – a fact you notice when he lifts you by your hips and sets you on his bed. Fresh sheets crinkle beneath you as you’re carefully laid on your back, Sans occupying your whole attention with his mouth still on yours, opening his teeth against your mouth and letting something hot and wet past them to mingle with your tongue. He has a tongue of his own? His hands smooth against your sides under your shirt, pulling it away and over your head, breaking the kiss briefly, but he’s back on you as soon as it’s tossed aside. His hands go to your shoes next, and you feel a bit silly for still wearing them, but they’re quickly unlaced and discarded with your socks as well.

Then he grunts as he presses his heavy body on top of yours, and while your anatomy knowledge isn’t perfect you’re _pretty sure_ there’s something out of place. _Right at the front of his pelvis, pressing right against your crotch._

And it crosses your mind again that he’s in _heat_ and wants to _breed you_.

You yelp suddenly in alarm and push against him, scrambling back and covering yourself over your bra.

He withdraws his hands and looks at you. His eye lights are back, but he looks kind of drunk. Then he snaps out of it, shaking his head and sliding back, giving you your space. There’s a very large red glow in his shorts pointed in your direction, and you look away as he grabs a pillow and covers himself.

Both of you need a moment to catch your breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELP. I finally wrote a fic where they're in bed by chapter ten XD


	11. Clearing our heads.

…

“Sans, that was a bit-“

“ **\- you like me too.** ”

You scowl at him and start looking around the dimly lit room for wherever your shirt landed. Sans lets out a long sigh, sounding incredibly relieved.

“... That’s not really what I’m focused on right now,” you groan, looking away as your cheeks burn.

“ **why not?** ”

“ _Because_.”

“ **because…?** ”

“Just- _Look_ , just give me a second to think here?” you protest, pulling your legs into yourself and hugging your knees as you lean against the headboard.

He runs his massive palms over his head and face, shuddering uncomfortably at the other end of the bed. “ **listen… if you’re gunna do some thinking,** ” he says, sounding strained. “ **do ya think you could maybe leave me alone for a couple minutes? i gotta, uh, take care of somethin’.** ”

Oh _god_. He needs to masturbate again. “ _Now?!_ ”

He smiles sheepishly, glancing away. “ **ya got me all worked up, _____. better to do somethin’ about it on my own than push you again.** ”

Yeah, leaving seems like a reasonable idea right now. You scoop up your shirt and throw it back on as quickly as possible before leaving the room.

 

* * *

 

This whole situation is so _fucked_.

You’ve just been stewing on the foldout bed, having found Sans’ phone and opened your Discord chat again. Mike wasn’t on, and he probably won’t be until the late evening, especially since its summer time now, so you’ll have to try him again later. But the chatroom was kind of dead without him to banter back and forth with, so you’ve logged in to some of your social medias and are scrolling through your feeds, eating Doritos and just trying to ignore your thoughts.

While you’re engrossed in some Tumblr comic someone posted of a favourite fanfic of yours, you hear Sans’ door open above you, and then the bathroom. He spends a moment washing his hands before coming back to lean against the railing sighing warmly when he sees you.

“ **... now that i’ve got my head cleared up, i think we need to talk ‘bout a few things, sweetheart,** ” he notes plainly. His expression is warm and loving as ever, but there’s a slight challenging edge to his tone. “ **first off, why were you at grillby’s in the first place?** ”

You click off his phone and sigh. “I just needed some fresh air so I could _think_ straight,” you complain. “I’ve been cooped up here too long already, I don’t know _what’s_ going on with my brain, and it’s driving me _insane_.”

“Plus,” you add. “I got hungry again and ‘Grillby’s’ sounded like it might be some kind of burger place.”

“ **oh, i can make you food if you need,** ” he perks up.

“Too late,” you grimace. “You had a bag of Doritos in the cupboard.” You hold up the empty bag and shake the crumbs around in it. "You, uh, don't have any Doritos anymore."

He runs a massive hand up over his forehead as he leans against the railing, chuckling gently at your antics. “ **you need to eat better food, _____. anyways… how’d he get so close to you?** ” he asks.

His tone is gentle and not accusatory in the slightest. He just wants to know what happened.

“ _Ugh_ , he took me by surprise,” you explain, still somewhat disgusted by what that motherfucker almost got away with. “At first he was all, trying to get me to follow him to the back room for some reason, for my ‘safety’, then when he brought whatever food he made me he kind of _shoved_ it into me and closed the distance before I could really react.”

“ **i’m glad he didn’t mark you,** ” he hums, sounding a touch relieved?

You get up and start to pace the livingroom. “I _still_ need some fresh air though, I _can’t_ stay cooped up in here _forever!_ And _apparently_ I can’t leave _you_ alone for more than ten minutes before you chase me down and start throwing guys through _windows!_ ”

You yelp as you bump right into his chest, Sans having suddenly appeared directly in front of you. His hands come up to catch and steady you.

“ **i might have a compromise,** ” he offers, taking your hands in his. “ **let’s go somewhere no one will bug us for a bit. do you trust me?** ”

_Yes._

You take a second to do a double-take at your own brain.

“ _Apparently_ the answer to that question is _yes_ ,” you grumble, not really believing what’s coming out of your own mouth right now.

He smiles a big, just, dumb puppy-dog kind of smile, then hugs you into his chest more firmly. “ **close your eyes for a sec, okay?** ”

“Okay.”

And you’re somewhere else.

It’s _hot_. And _dry_. There’s a curl of wind that sends fine dust directly up your nose, causing you to sneeze before you can even adjust to your new surroundings. Sans smooths his hand against the side of your face, keeping your hair from whipping you as he checks to make sure you’re okay. Then, he slowly let you go enough to turn you around and take one of your hands in his.

“ **here we are.** ”

“What is this place?”

“ **aboveground. we called it aboveground.** ”

The wind is slow but purposeful as it kicks up small little twisters of sand and garbage here and there. Ahead of you is what looks like an old western movie-styled shanty town, but with a modern twist. There are concrete structures that have fallen in on themselves over time, as well as some half-built modern row houses. The dust blows through the buildings in spots, and some large pieces of scrap steel sheeting covers some of the larger holes on some of the buildings. There’s only about a dozen structures in total, all of them damaged or dilapidated over time, or just plain unfinished.

“It’s like a ghost town,” you point out morbidly.

Sans steps ahead of you, shaking his head. “ **no ghosts here, it’s safe. i promise.** ”

You grip his hand a bit more firmly as you try to walk over the loose dust and sand, Sans leading you into the unfinished row houses. They have the roofs on so at least it’ll be out of the late afternoon sun.

 

* * *

 

“What happened here?” you ask, settling in on the bare floor across from Sans.

“ **we first surfaced a couple years ago, and the government said we could set up a camp on this patch of desert until they figured out what to do with us. we got some tents and supplies from the army, but they weren’t enough for all of us, and they fucked off pretty soon after, leaving us to fend for ourselves. so, we tried to make a permanent settlement of our own. it lasted less than three months.** ”

Sans idly traces his phalanges in the fine sand coating the floor before continuing. **“some humans from some town nearby hated that we were basically moving ourselves in, so they got a big group of ‘em together and attacked in the night. dusted a lot of monsters, it was a total shitshow. pap and i were basically in charge, and we got everybody out of here that we could. then… we finished off the attackers, gathered all of the dust from fallen monsters that we could, and brought it back with us underground for a proper sendoff.** ”

You’re a bit stunned. “I’m sorry that happened Sans, but… Why bring me here?”

He leans back on his hands and smiles at you. “ **it’s the quietest place to think in the whole world. no monsters, no humans, and not a whole lot of wildlife either. no one comes here, ‘cept maybe me sometimes,** ” he shrugs.

You sit in silence for a minute, resting your head against the wooden framing behind you, actually enjoying the company and only the sound of the wind outside. Even if it _is_ hot as balls out here.

“… I’m at war with myself,” you finally say.

“ **how so?** ”

“It’s like… I _want_ to be accepting of this whole situation, I _really am_ trying my best here, but my logic brain just isn’t having it,” you sigh. “I _know_ you can’t help it – that much is pretty clear to me by now, after seeing you roar at Mettaton and then throw that Grillby guy out a window in defense of me – but, this is so _abnormal_ for humans! We aren’t _like_ this, _at all!_ ”

He sighs heavily, shifting to slouch forward. “ **i know.** ”

“And… Since I’m feeling really honest right now? It’s not like…” you begin, taking a moment to cringe at yourself. “… It’s not like I’m _not_ feeling… _Something_. I just… I don’t know how to… To _reconcile_ that.”

He perks up slightly at that, but his expression is more concerned than hopeful. “ **how do you mean?** ”

“… I don’t _do_ emotions very well,” you explain. “There’s some baggage with my mother I don’t really want to get into right now, but… I learned from an early age that she likes attacking people’s _emotions_. So, _I_ figured, if I didn’t _have_ any, she couldn’t hurt me. I’d be _invincible_ against her and could do as I damn well pleased.”

“ **that’s _horrible_.**”

“ _Yeah_. So…” you begin again, skirting right past the feelings in the typical way that you do. “There’s this _one_ part of me that’s like, sort of enjoying the attention, and is _kinda_ on board with it? But there’s this much _larger_ part of me that’s _shouting_ at it, saying that _none_ of this is normal, this is a _kidnapping_ , you should fucking get _out_ of here, and so on.”

His expression falls and you put a hand up. “ _Sorry, sorry_ , I know… I _know_ it sucks to hear but that’s just how I _am_. I’m having to do some _serious_ mental gymnastics just to _cope_.”

He looks down at the sand on the floor again, tracing more shapes forlornly. “ **you, heh… you kinda reminded me of my _dad_ there for a sec. it was like… he was kinda your mom’s opposite. _hated_ emotions and self-expression, only ever wanted to be logical. if we couldn’t separate ourselves from our emotions then we weren’t worth any of his time. i had to get jobs throughout my childhood just so we could have nice things for ourselves, ‘cause he never saw the point to ‘em.**”

“ ** _then_ he _blissfully_ dropped dead one day and left us an inheritance that’ll last us our entire lives,**” he chuckles darkly, gripping a fistful of sand as it slips through his phalanges. “ **stingy _bastard_. good riddance.**”

“I’m sorry.”

He looks up, stunned. “ **what for?** ”

“That your dad was such an asshole? I don’t know,” you huff.

He smiles softly at that. “ **not your fault.** ”

You watch him play with the sand and push it into little piles with his claws for a minute or two before speaking again.

“What’s it like… I mean, I _know_ I’ve asked this before, but I mean it a different way this time, but… What’s it like for you? When _you_ think about this whole situation?”

“ **… before i answer that, can i sit next to you?** ”

You smirk and tap the bare floor beside you. He smiles and moves next to you. It’s cute how he asks your permission all the time.

He heaves a large breath, his massive ribcage expanding, then he seems to deflate entirely.

“ **… i guess i’m at war with myself too.** ”

He grips the thin fabric of his shorts, balling the fabric up in his large hands. “ **i’m stuck in this… _panic spiral_ , like… my body is telling me _one_ thing, gives me these desires to _wanna act on_ , but the fact that i _can’t_ sends my thoughts into frenzied _screaming_ that she’ll reject me, she’s a _human_ , of _course_ she wouldn’t like me how _could she?_ i’ll _never_ be enough for her, she wants to _leave me_ , _she’s gunna run away_ and _leave me and i’ll be dus_ -**“

You take his hand in yours, giving it a squeeze. He pants and wipes some sweat from his forehead on his opposite shoulder as he looks over at you.

“ **… thank you. this _really_ helps,**” he says, holding up your hand and shifting the grip to interlace his fingers with yours. “ **if we do this i can tell my thoughts to _fuck off_ , ‘cause _look_ – she’s _right here_. she’s _not_ running. she’s doing _just fine_.**”

“ ** _god_ ,**” he groans, hiding his face with his giant hand for a sec. “ **i’ve only known you for less than a day but i’d _die_ for you, _____. never felt that way for _anyone_ before, ‘cept maybe paps, but now it’s like, i _can’t live without you_ and that’s just a _little_ terrifying, just… in how _different_ that is from what i’m usually like.**”

That’s… _Kind_ of flattering? Well, it _must_ be, because there’s more backflips happening. But it also makes you think.

“We should head back, it is crazy hot out here and I’m not used to this kind of dry heat sitting in my lungs.”

“ **shit, _yeah_ , i honestly forgot. sorry.**” You both stand up and dust yourselves off, then he offers his hand for yours again with a warm smile. “ **hang on tight.** ”


	12. Papyrus Has Awful Timing.

“If you could have literally _any animal_ as a pet, what would it be?”

“ **shit, i dunno,** ” he grins awkwardly. “ **maybe like a big, fuckoff _wolf_ , or a _bear_ or somethin’. you?**”

“… I’ve always kind of wanted a big cat, like a panther kitten that I could raise up to be my bud and protector. Either that or a raccoon.”

“ **a raccoon? really?** ”

“Okay so they _might_ get a bad rap for being urban pests, but they’re actually _really_ smart! They’re apparently _very_ easy to train, they always wash their food in a bowl of water before eating, and they have little hands so they can go and get you stuff!”

“ **okay, now i’m actually kinda sold. so, first choice was a _panther_ , huh?**”

He growls playfully and leans towards you. You roll your eyes and press your socked foot against his sternum to push him away.

You decided that since Sans and you don’t know all that much about each other, that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to actually spend some time just getting to know one another. Sans eagerly showed off the liquor cabinet and suggested maybe getting a bit sloshed to dull the awkwardness at first, but then you talked and both agreed that you wanted to be in a sound state of mind.

Especially given Sans’… Control issues.

So you’ve managed to mix some cranberry juice with some ginger ale for an approximation of a tasty mixed drink, and Sans was having a rum and coke hold the rum. It was actually Pepsi and it was still in a two liter bottle and everything, because he said he’s ‘not big on doing things fancy most times’. Which was fine with you, since you’re pretty laid back most times.

Other things you learned about each other were your favourite colours (Sans’ being red, and he said he liked yours because it suited you), favourite foods, shows and books you each liked, all sorts of normal, basic stuff. And it was a good, comfy evening together just sharing stuff and getting to know one another.

So with the aid of a Google search, you broke out some more exploratory questions. Trying to dig up intimate things you wouldn’t normally get to know about someone you just met.

“ **my turn,** ” he beams. “ **what’s your family like? i mean, besides your mom.** ”

“… Well…” you pause, trying to think of a way to sugarcoat your answer to this.

He reaches a hand up as if to tuck your hair away from your face, then thought better of it and gripped his Pepsi bottle with both hands again. “ **you don’t gotta hide anything from me, sweetheart. i wanna know everything about you – even the bad stuff, okay?** ” he reassures you.

“I guess I just don’t want to spend all night talking about it, is the thing,” you clarify, taking a sip of your drink. “It’s not _all_ bad, I guess… It’s just something I’m still sort of getting over.”

“ **then we don’t have to talk about it. i’ll pick a different question,** ” he offers, scrolling through the list on your phone.

“We can come back to it later, if you want,” you offer.

“ **yeah, alright,** ” he smiles. “ **here’s a fun one; if you won a million dollars, how would you spend it?** ”

“Pfft. I _wouldn’t_.”

“ **… really?** ”

“Well,” you clarify. “I think I would just be so dumbstruck by the windfall that I just… Wouldn’t know what to do with myself? At all?? And then maybe once I got over that, _if_ I got over it, I’d do reasonable things, like… I don’t know, buy a house? Put myself through school? I don’t really know what else people _do_ with large sums of money like that, honestly,” you chuckle.

“ **what about travel?** ”

“I mean, _maybe_ …”

Sans just smiles, and you can almost see the wheels turning in his head behind those narrow red eye lights. “ **i’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s out there. we should definitely travel somewhere together. maybe a _few_ somewheres.**”

You feel anxious just thinking about how expensive that would end up being. You’ve never really been on a plane before, and aren’t they like, ridiculously expensive? “Let’s um… Put that idea on the back burner for now. What about you, Sans? What would _you_ do with a million big ones?”

He grins broadly, like he knows some sort of secret he’s not telling you. “ **whatever the hell i want.** ”

… Okay? “But what does that involve for you?” you press.

He shrugs. “ **don’t need to work if you’re set for life, right? so no job, no other responsibilities basically, just relax at home and do whatever i want to do that day.** ”

“ _Just_ sit at home? A moment ago you were encouraging me to travel!”

“ **oh, and i definitely mean it – we should travel, once i got my head cleared up. but travelling and doting on my soulmate relies on me actually _having_ a soulmate,**” he grins broadly.

You roll your eyes, taking your phone back from him in one hand and a sip of your drink with the other. You stare at the screen for a moment, mindlessly scrolling through the questions.

… Then you click the screen off, and tap at it for a moment with a fingernail.

You already know what question you want to ask. You just… Aren’t sure that you want the answer right now.

“ **you doin’ okay over there?** ” Sans prompts, eye sockets creased with concern.

“Yeah… Yeah,” you reply. “I just have something in particular I want to ask you, but, don’t get any funny ideas, alright?”

He arches a brow curiously. “ **what sorta funny ideas?** ”

“You’ll know. So um, _Sans_ ,” you begin gently, shifting to sit up a bit straighter and setting your drink aside. The idiot in your brain does a couple of anticipatory backflips as you open your mouth to ask. “Can monsters and humans really have ki-“

The front door **_SLAMS_** open not ten feet from you, Sans on his feet in an _instant_ to put himself between you and the intruder.

“ ** _IS THE HUMAN PREGNANT?!_** ”

It’s Papyrus. You bury your face in your hands as Sans lowers his guard, his own face cherry red.

“ **guess i don’t gotta ask where _you’ve_ been all day,**” he grumbles.

You peek an eye out from between your fingers and you have to agree – the Captain’s face is littered with bright red lipstick marks, clearly from his boyfriend wanting to show off his claim. His clothes are disheveled, and he’s got, what you guess are ‘bruises’, here and there on what you can see of his cervical vertebrae and collar bones.

Papyrus straightens up as he inspects the two of you with great scrutiny. “ **YES, WELL, MY BONDED WAS LOATHE TO PART WITH MY COMPANY EARLIER TODAY, SO I DECIDED TO VISIT WITH HIM IN HOTLAND FOR THE MORNING,** ” he grimaces, his own hard face flushing. “ **IT WENT _CONSIDERABLY_ LONGER THAN I ORIGINALLY INTENDED!**”

From the slightly betrayed look on his face under all that blush, you think that maybe Mettaton was keeping him away for a reason. Papyrus _was_ insistent on staying near his brother last night in order to make sure he behaved himself around you, so maybe the robot thought to give you and Sans some time alone together?

“ **WHY HAVEN’T YOU MARKED HER YET??** ” Papyrus suddenly demands.

“ **i don’t wanna do anything that’ll scare her. i’d rather dust.** ”

“Hey, not to break up this totally random and embarrassing moment, but- What _is_ marking, anyway?”


	13. Shower & Spaghetti.

“ _WHAT?!_ ”

You launch to your feet and start pacing around the livingroom.

“I can’t- Are you _serious??_ You want to _WHAT?!_ ”

“ **i _told_ you she’d freak out,**” Sans grumbles.

“ **WELL, IF YOU’D JUST _HURRY UP_ ABOUT IT-!**”

You cup your hands around your neck when you turn to face him. “That’s my _NECK!_ Do you have _any concept_ of how _wide_ your mouth is?? And your teeth are like… _GUH!_ I don’t even want to think about it!!” you cringe.

“ **i mean, part of the process _is_ healin’ you up right away…**” Sans adds sheepishly.

“But that’s my _NECK_. There’s like, really important shit in there I can’t have damaged or I might just _DIE_.”

“ **… wait, _what?_** ”

He’s stunned. A shadow seems to fall over his face as his expression shifts to one of horror.

Papyrus glances between the two of you before scoffing and standing up from the couch, still dabbing some of the lipstick marks away with a dampened tea towel. “ **WHILE YOU TWO DISCUSS THIS I AM GOING TO PREPARE DINNER,** ” he announces, heading for the doorway into the kitchen and disappearing.

Sans stands from the couch and catches your elbow to stop you from pacing the livingroom, but his grip is _very_ gentle, almost as if he’s afraid you’ll shatter like glass. When you turn to face him he catches your opposite hand in his with the same delicate touch.

“ **… sit down and explain please?** ” he pleads softly.

“… _Fine_.”

You let him lead you back to the couch (finally folded up at Papyrus’ behest) and sit down opposite him. You automatically take the far corner to stretch your legs out, but Sans wants to take the middle, so your feet end up in his lap and he holds one of them gently over your sock.

“… My anatomy knowledge isn’t a hundred percent, but _seriously_ though – there’s major arteries and important muscle groups and nerves and stuff in my neck. I can’t just like, let you _BITE ME THERE!_ ”

And with a mouth as _big_ as Sans’, and lined with shark-like teeth? _Yeah_. _No thanks_.

“ **… anatomy?** ”

You stop abruptly and throw him a stunned look. “What, they didn’t teach you anatomy in school?”

" **anatomy's not really one of the things they teach us down here,** " he offers sheepishly. “ **well, not unless it has somethin’ to do with… uh…** ”

You’re still baffled though. "Why not? Shouldn't you know how your body works?"

" **oh, i can _tell_ you how my body works,**" he winks.

"This better not be the lead-up to another flirt."

" **i'm made of magic-powered dust.** "

…

"... That's _it?_ "

" **that's it. well, obviously there's more to it than that, but that all falls under magic studies instead, which is more physics. particles, quantum states, shit like that.** "

You blink. "You know physics?"

" **yeah. got m'self a ph. d and everything. why, is that hot?** "

… _Shit_.

"I can't believe I'm admitting this out loud, but… _Very?_ "

" **oh damn. hey i bet if i can make you vibrate at the right intensity i can turn your pants-state from _on_ to _off_.**"

…

" ** _holy shit_ ,**” he chuckles delightedly. **“yeah okay, that nerd shit works. i'll have to think up some more.** "

“New topic,” you interject, desperately trying to dismiss how hot your face is feeling right now. “You said this marking thing might help you calm down?”

“ **it’s supposed to,** ” he shrugs. “ **i haven’t exactly done it before.** ”

“And then we could go get my stuff from my aunt's place?"

" **… i dunno. i don't want to make any promises,** " he admits anxiously, faintly red sweat beading across his skull. " **it _might_ help if they smell like family either way but… okay, _look_ ; there's a bit more to marking than just bitin' ya. it's usually the prelude to some other soulmate stuff.**"

"Such as?"

He's practically _dripping_ now, like he just came in from a bad rainstorm except it's sweat.

" **uhhhh. sex… and soulbonding.** "

You remove your feet from his lap and sit up straight. He looks almost as if he wants to cry, but just sighs deeply instead, wiping at his face and neck bones.

“… I need a shower.”

You excuse yourself from the couch and march up the stairs as calmly and quickly as you can.

* * *

To your amazement, there is in fact a bottle of shampoo in the shower.

It’s one of those fish-shaped kids ones, and it’s almost empty, but at least it’s something. Kind of makes you wonder why two skeleton brothers would have one in the first place, though. It smells vaguely like mangoes.

Why the hell two skeleton guys, with their bald boney heads, would have a bottle of shampoo in the shower _at all_ is a mystery you might have to leave for another day.

After lathering your hair and rinsing it out twice over, you decide to savour the shower, turning it on high heat and just letting it burn your skin pink while you lose yourself in your thoughts. You snap out of it as the water shifts colder after some time, utterly forgetting anything you thought about over the last several minutes.

Toweling yourself off, you climb back into your clothes (Would Sans mind if you stole one of his shirts for the night? Just for something different to wear? Eh, probably not, but you’ll clear it with him first) and decide to head back downstairs. Papyrus said he was making dinner, wasn’t he? You’ve only had crepes and chips all day, so a proper meal sounds good right about now.

“ **YOU SHOULD JUST GET IT OVER WITH BEFORE SOMETHING HAPPENS.** ”

You stop in your tracks at Paps’ tone. It’s like really low, agitated snarling. What’s going _on?_

“ ** _n o ,_** ” Sans snaps back.

“ **EXACTLY _HOW LONG_ DO YOU THINK YOU CAN KEEP THIS UP, _SANS?!_** ” he hisses. “ **IT’S ALREADY BEEN TWO DAYS AND YOU HAVEN’T EVEN _MARKED_ HER YET?**”

“ **i’m not gunna hurt her paps. not like that. why would she stay with me if i did? ‘sides, you _heard_ what she said – if i bite her neck i might kill her, and then i’d be dust anyways.**”

“ **YOU’RE _INSANE_ , TOYING WITH THINGS YOU BARELY UNDERSTAND!**” Then his voice gets lower, but you can still make out his raspy tones from the landing above. “ **DO YOU NEED MY ASSISTANCE IN MARKING HER BY FOR-** “

**_SLAM._ **

“ **don’t. _e v e r ._ talk like that again.   _g o t   i t ?_** ”

“ **I’M ONLY TRYING TO DO WHAT’S BEST FOR _YOU_ -**“

His voice is strangled, almost like he’s suffocating on something.

“ ** _s t a y   o u t   o f   i t ._** ”

Sans is laying the scary murder voice on _thick_ tonight.

After a moment Papyrus gasps like he can suddenly breathe again, and at the same time you hear something hit the floor heavily. He scoffs as he picks himself up again, grumbling quietly to himself, then falling quiet for a moment.

“ ** _FINE_. BUT DON’T YOU _DARE_ BOTHER ME WITH THIS NONSENSE AGAIN. I WASH MY HANDS OF IT.**”

“ **fine by me.** ”

Papyrus scoffs again, and then he stomps his way over to the stairs. He stops when he reaches the top, where he sees you.

You drum your hands against the wood railing you’ve been leaning against, then push away from it.

“So I know your brother’s at risk because of this whole whacked out soulmate business, and I’ve been doing my best to be accepting of that,” you address him, attempting nonchalance by fiddling with your hair. Flicking it away, you take a couple steps towards him. “But you’ve gotta understand something, Papyrus – Your brother _might_ be a big scary bastard when he wants to be, and super protective of me due to the whole soulmate thing? But make no mistake – if you _ever_ do _anything_ to me to try and violate my consent here?”

You get close enough to poke him in the sternum.

“ _I’LL_ be the one to snap you in _half_.”

He rolls his eye lights as he dismissively bats your hand away. “ **I DON’T TAKE IDLE _THREATS_ FROM HUMANS, _HUMAN_.**”

“Then take it as a _promise_.”

You bump into him as you brush past him, heading downstairs to see Sans.

He’s stirring a pot on the stove with an agitated look on his face, but when his red slitted eye lights look up and see you, you can see it all just bleed away from him as he looks at you and just _smiles_.

You jog up to him and hug his chest tightly. “What’s cooking good looking?”

He’s a bit apprehensive for a second before putting his hand on your back, but once he does he seems to melt once more, and gives your forehead a sweet kiss. “ **it’s just spaghetti. paps was makin’ it, but i took over ‘cause of how he was… uhh, _anyways_ , i hope it’s still good,**” he shrugs uncertainly.

“Sounds perfect.”

Maybe you’re not super thrilled about the idea of him _biting_ you, or even totally sold on the whole soulmates thing altogether, but Sans has _definitely_ earned himself some points by sticking up for you against his brother tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. _So._
> 
> Apparently when I say 'I need a break from stressing out over writing these main three stories', my brain immediately decides to flip over to 'great now we can update these other stories'.


	14. Warming up to it

After enjoying a spaghetti dinner, you and Sans pulled out the foldout couch and settled in for some more Red vs Blue. He elected to bundle you up in a warm blanket burrito before resting you against his shoulder. For once you didn’t have a strong need to argue the point.

Papyrus left sometime in the middle of it, a large packed bag in one hand. No one said anything when he passed through the livingroom where you and Sans are watching more Netflix, but he did text Sans shortly after.

“ **he says he’s gunna stay with his bonded for a few days,** ” Sans lets you know, massaging a spot on your arm through the blanket. From the look on his face, you’re sure he said a bit more than _that_.

“Is that okay?” you ask.

He kisses your temple. “ **yeah. why not? he does this from time to time.** ”

“Yeah, but your fight earlier…”

His hand halts its soothing ministrations against the skin of your arm. “ **… you heard that, huh?** ” he mumbles. “ **… uh, how _much_ did you…**”

“For the record, I’m mad at Papyrus, _not_ you,” you reassure him, turning in your blanket cocoon to face him a bit better. “I really appreciated you sticking up for me, you know?”

You’re not sure what to make of his expression – it’s almost like he’s caught between running away, bursting into tears, and yet not wanting to move a muscle. He looks so flustered and frustrated at once. You chuckle as he lifts his other hand to run it down his face.

“ **… sorry ‘bout paps,** ” he finally says, almost like he’s dragging the words out of himself. “ **he says some pretty awful shit sometimes but he doesn’t really _mean_ it. he’s just worried about me ‘cause this isn’t a typical soulmate situation.**”

“I’ve been thinking… Does he have a _point_ , though?” you ask cautiously. “I’m still not a fan of you _biting_ me, but is there some sort of risk to you if you _don’t?_ ”

Sans groans, running his hand up to your shoulder and fiddling with your hair as he looks just past you. “ **the way _i_ see it, your safety an’ comfort is priority number one, an’ i don’t really think there’s a hard _time limit_ on how long we can wait before i mark ya.**”

“How important is this marking thing, anyways?”

He winces at your question. “ **uh, culturally? it’s kind of a big deal. it’s like i’m putting a big sign on you saying you’re mine and stuff. i mean… well, it _is_ a bit possessive,**” he struggles to admit, fully appreciating how it sounds. “ **but it tells other monsters to back off ‘cause i’ve got my claim on you.** ”

“Geez… So, in human terms, it’s sort of like if I wore a big _wedding ring_ or something??”

His hand freezes as sweat is dripping off of him in buckets again. “ **oh _hell_ ,**” he bemoans, and you can’t help but chuckle a little at his flustered face. “ **i mean, _sure_ , i _guess?_ except for us it’s like, the ring is attached to a bigass _neon sign_ and also _smells_ like me.**”

“… I’m going to _smell_ like you if you _mark_ me?”

“ **hey now, i clean up okay,** ” he protests, grinning.

You chuckle a bit at that.

“ **hey, uh… not to push or anything but, why the sudden interest?** ” Sans asks you.

You sigh, fidgeting with your hands inside the blanket. “I was just thinking… Would it really help? So that maybe we can go get my stuff from my aunt’s place? I figure I’m stuck here anyways until you can calm down from your ‘heat’ or whatever, so I just want my stuff nearby. I need _some_ familiarity here, like my clothes and things, because it might help _me_ not be so crazy at times.”

He sighs deeply. “ **i can’t make any guarantees. like i’ve said, never done it before. not sure where my head’ll be at if we do.** ”

… _If?_

“I kinda thought it was a _when_ it happens thing, not an _if_ thing,” you point out, then grimace slightly. “Not that I’m saying I’m suddenly totally on board with you _biting_ me, just that… It’s _probably_ something we should get over with at some point, right? If it’s _really_ that important to this whole ‘soulmates’ thing.”

He looks at you adoringly for a long moment, stroking your hair idly between his hard fingers.                   

“ ** _fuck_ , sweetheart, i just… _really_ wanna kiss you right now, but i’m a little worried about losing my control again,**” he admits warmly, his cheekbones lighting up with a red blush.

“Is _that_ why you wrapped me up in a blanket?”

He spends a moment securing it around you better, not breaking eye contact. “ **harder to strip ya down when there’s more layers to get through,** ” he smirks.

“ _Geez_.”

Sans sits up straighter as he holds you gently by your shoulders over the plush blanket, the glowing red slits of light in his sockets fixated on your face. “ **can i… _may i_ kiss you, sweetheart?**”

…

 _Well_ …

He asked super sweetly, even using his _manners_ , and he _has_ won some brownie points with you within the last hour or so. Not that a kiss should be a _reward_ for anything, just that he does have a fair bit going for him right now.

But this situation is still a bit weird to the logical part of your brain. Why are you calming down and getting used to this, getting comfortable with this situation, when it started as a random kidnapping from a creepy monster who promptly felt you up and trapped you in his house? Underground, in another _country_ , with no other humans anywhere within spitting distance.

For whatever reason that bit of information is mattering to your brain less and less, and you’re not sure how you feel about that.

He’s also kind of being… _Super_ adorable right now, looking at you with abject adoration like that… In spite of yourself, you’re _definitely_ becoming attracted to him. Apart from the initial grope-fest, he’s been focused on nothing but your comfort and safety since the start.

… And your first kiss _was_ kind of clumsy and spur of the moment.

He puts a hand against your cheek and you suddenly realize how warm your face as gotten – and how much you want to put your hand over his to keep him there.

You let out a long sigh and look away, abundantly aware of all the steam rising from your cheeks right now. “How about… Just _one_ kiss. Think we can keep it to _one?_ ”

His sockets widen, briefly amazed that you’d actually agree. Then he looks like he just won a million bucks, and chuckles a bit.

“ **just _one_ kiss, huh? i’ll have to make it a good one.**”

The adoration in his eyes suddenly shifts into something _way_ more intense than you were anticipating. It’s like there’s suddenly a raging _fire_ behind those narrow red lights that’s just been given permission to burn a dozen times _hotter_.

He carefully moves his hands to hold you by your waist as he closes the distance.


End file.
